


Wolfstime

by Tiny_Black_Cat



Series: Red Swan [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Anxiety, F/F, Season/Series 01, Some vague suicidal thoughts tbh, Werewolf Red Riding Hood | Ruby, Werewolves, actuallyanxious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-07-11 16:14:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15975887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiny_Black_Cat/pseuds/Tiny_Black_Cat
Summary: After the Season 1 curse breaks, Ruby realizes that it will be a full moon. She enlists Emma's help.





	Wolfstime

**Author's Note:**

> Written 8/4/14.
> 
> This is part one of a two part series I have already written.

After breaking the curse in Storybrooke, all Emma Swan wanted to do was lie in bed.

So much so that she even let Henry stay with Regina. Even though Emma distrusted Regina, she knew Regina loved Henry.

Emma had also spent the rest of her day avoiding her parents. She wasn’t ready to face them. Eventually they gave up looking, and she’d seen them having a date night at Granny’s.

As she closed her eyes, she heard someone yelling. “Emma!”

Emma walked wearily down the stairs as someone barged through the door. It was Ruby.

She was clearly panicking. Her breaths came in great heaving gasps and her words ran together. “Emma-I-can’t-find-my-cloak-and-Storybrooke-has-magic-back-and-it’s-a-full-moon!”

As she paused to take a shuddering breath Emma interrupted.

“Ruby, what’s going on? Are you okay?”

“Emma!” Ruby wailed, “do you know which fairytale character I am?”

Emma paused. “Yeah. You’re Red Riding Hood.”

“But do you know the story in Henry’s book?” Ruby asked anxiously.

“No. You can tell it to me, but just sit down.”

“No, we have to go, I can’t find my cloak!”

“Ruby!” Emma said. “Sit.”

Ruby reluctantly sat on a stool, nervously kicking the counter. Emma made two cups of hot chocolate.

She realized that out of habit she had sprinkled cinnamon on them, just like her mother.

When she gave Ruby her cup, Ruby grabbed it too quickly and spilled her drink. Emma started to get something to wipe it up, but Ruby grabbed her arm.

“Don’t. We don’t have time. We only have a couple of hours at best before the moon rises.”

Emma slid onto a chair.

“Okay, Ruby. What does being Red Riding Hood have to do with the full moon?”

Ruby gripped Emma’s wrist. “You don’t know the real story. The version you’ve heard is probably something about a big bad wolf trying to eat me? Emma, I am the wolf. Back in the old land, every full moon it was wolfstime. My granny didn’t even tell me it happened at night and I don’t remember it. But Emma, now I know! My cloak is the only thing that protects me, that protects them, and without it there will be a big bloodthirsty monster walking around here tonight!”

Emma got up and walked to the window. “What?” Ruby demanded. Emma looked back at her.

“It’s dark. The moon will be up any minute. Ruby, it’s too late.”

For a moment they were both silent. Ruby’s voice broke the silence.

“Then you have to lock me up. Here. In some room. Your bedroom? I don’t know. Hurry!”

Emma led her to Mary Margaret’s (her mother’s!) bedroom.

“This should be good,” Ruby said.

“So, what, I just leave you here until morning?” Emma asked.

“Yeah,” Ruby said. “And hope the door holds.”

Emma bit her lip. Finally, she said “good luck” and locked the door. It was just in time.

She heard growling, and the wolf howled, sending chills up her spine. Her plan was to guard Ruby - no, the wolf - and make sure the door held.

Pressing her ear against the door, Emma could hear the wolf sniffing. Suddenly, the door shuddered. She heard a growl, and then the wolf threw herself against the door again.

Backing up, she could see that the door was already showing cracks, and the hinges were becoming bent.

As the wolf launched a third attack, Emma walked farther away. What could she do?

Then she realized something. She barred her mother’s door and wiped her eyes, overcome with emotion. If the wolf killed, there would only be one victim - she would make sure of that. But she wasn’t going down without a fight. Emma wouldn’t kill Ruby, but she wouldn’t play the damsel in distress either.

Finally, the door gave out. As the wolf ran downstairs, she grabbed a chair and ran into her mother’s small kitchen. The wolf knew she had her cornered, and took her time.

Emma considered throwing dishes. But what if Ruby woke up covered in gashes? Hesitantly, she threw a plate at the wolf.

Her fur was thick and the shards didn’t draw blood. Emma threw more plates and then moved on to more recent dishes. Now cocoa and cinnamon were spilled on the floor.

The wolf paused, nose twitching. She turned her gaze away from Emma to the shattered cups. Then she looked back at her. The wolf’s gaze was less threatening now, and more - curious?

“Ruby?” Emma asked, and took a step forward.

The wolf growled.

“Okay,” Emma said, partly to herself, partly to the wolf. “No walking forward. But Ruby, it’s okay. It’s me, Emma, remember? You turned into a wolf. Please don’t eat me."

Emma had never owned a dog, but she imagined that this was like talking to a wild dog. She kept talking to the wolf, appealing to her human side. When she stopped, the wolf snarled. She resumed talking, telling Ruby silly stories, embarrassing stories, anything to keep her distracted. She kept talking for hours, not daring to move, to take a sip of water, to pause talking for more than a second.

The sun was starting to rise as Emma’s eyes started to close. Her voice because a soft mumble, and she swayed. Then she heard a crash. Her eyes snapped open to see Ruby, now in human form, lying on top of the broken dishes. Emma cried out.

Ruby moved her head and started to push herself up but stopped as her hands got cut on the shards.

“Ruby, I’m so sorry,” Emma said, moving to help her up. She helped Ruby walk over to the couch and lie down.

Ruby finally spoke. “What for?”

“You’re hurt. When you went all wolf, I threw cups at you and you fell on them.”

Emma located some bandages and started dabbing disinfectant onto Ruby’s cuts. The girl had cuts everywhere; on her legs, arms and hands. Ruby winced.

“Sorry,” Emma repeated.

“No,” Ruby said. “You don’t have to apologize for anything. I - I think I went wolf last night? As long as I didn’t kill anyone ... what happened?”

Emma paused. “Do you remember anything?”

“I think I do, actually,” Ruby said. “I felt confined. Suffocated. And very, very angry. And then - I broke something? I went down some stairs, tracking a scent. Your scent.”

Ruby broke away from Emma’s gaze.

“Emma, you have to understand, I didn’t - I don’t - want to kill you. My wolf side, it was bloodthirsty, it wasn’t me, I couldn’t control it - “

“Ruby,” Emma said. “It’s okay. I get it. You were cursed. It’s not your fault, okay?”

Ruby sniffed. “Yeah. So .... “ She stared off into the distance. “My wolf side was angry and bloodthirsty. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. You kept throwing things at me, I know you had to, but it didn’t make me any less mad. Then you threw those cups. My wolf got confused. I think, you know, with smell and stuff, it helped remind me I was human. When you talked to me, too, that helped. I remember you talking very clearly.”

Ruby’s eyes widened as she recalled the night’s events. “You pushed a guy into a steering wheel and knocked him out?”

Emma blushed. “I got really angry at him, and I was just talking for the sake of talking and I was hoping you wouldn’t remember that!”

Ruby grinned. “Remember what?”

But then she resumed a more serious expression. “Emma, I’ve never remembered what I did during wolfstime before. Ever. Something was different this time.”

Emma resumed tending to Ruby’s wounds. Ruby tried not to react, but it hurt, and occasionally she would gasp. She felt a drop of water on her knee.

She looked up to see Emma crying. “I’m sorry, Ruby,” she sniffed. “It’s my fault you’re hurt.”

Ruby’s own eyes were starting to water. “I could’ve killed you, and all you have to say is sorry you got cut? Oh Emma.”

She reached over and hugged Emma. Emma stiffened for a fraction of a second before she returned the hug. They stayed like that for a few minutes.

“Emma,” Ruby said with a low voice. “ _I’m_  sorry.”

Emma tried to protest as Ruby pulled away.

“No,” Ruby said. “Look, I'm fine.”

Ruby pulled out a cotton ball and tried wiping the cuts herself, but she had to twist into awkward angles. Emma grabbed Ruby’s hand to stop her and started tending to the wounds. Finally, she was all cleaned up. She decided to voice something that was on her mind.

“I’ve never remembered being a wolf before. Like I said, I was almost an adult when I found out. Even with Peter....”

Ruby was determined not to cry again but a tear slipped out.

“Peter?” Emma asked softly.

“I loved him,” Ruby said, “and I killed him.”

“I’m sorry.”

“But I have to move on,” Ruby said. “Find someone else. And also learn to control myself. With you I could. With your help.”

"I -" Emma looked at her. Ruby leaned towards Emma. Emma closed her eyes.

The doorknob turned, and Emma and Ruby jerked apart. It was Mary Margaret.

Emma was caught off guard.

“I can’t - I have to go.”

Emma gave Ruby a look, one that said she wanted to stay but couldn’t. She practically ran past Mary Margaret out the door.

Mary Margaret looked confused and hurt. Her gaze moved from Ruby’s bandaged legs and arms to Ruby trying to stifle a yawn.

“Rough night?” she asked.

“You have no idea.”


End file.
